Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Life I Learned in Acting Class

Everything I ever needed to know about life I learned in acting class. I have been thinking about this statement for some short time, and the more and more that I think about it, the more evident it becomes to me that it’s true. In my career as an undergraduate student, I was a Drama major. One of the lessons I learned about theatre is that drama imitates life. And sometimes, life imitates drama. Here are a few lessons on life that I learned in acting class.

Lesson One: We all have something to accomplish.
In acting, we call this the “objective.” It’s what a character wants out of the scene. Moreover, there is the super objective, what the character wants in its existence. Sometimes, characters could achieve their objective and other times they weren’t so lucky. Nonetheless, the characters strive for their objective, regardless of the end result. An objective is a foundational piece of what motivates acting. That core desire to gain something. To accomplish something. To earn something. Objectives are usually derived from the phrase “I want to…” Once that objective was achieved, they move on to their next objective.

Lesson Two: There will always be adversity.
These are called obstacles. Obstacles can come in all forms from physical limitations, to specific circumstances of a time period, even to other characters in the story. Some people choose to associate individuals as antagonists. However, I prefer the term "opposing force." Not every story has an antagonist, but every story has an opposing force. There can be no good story line, or plot, without some form of obstacle(s). It is the challenge of overcoming the obstacle that makes acting; it makes the story interesting. Every obstacle encountered is unique to the character. They are forced to finding some way to overcome, circumvent, or avoid such obstacles. Acting calls these tactics, and it’s what actors use to overcome, circumvent, or avoid those obstacles we face. Sometimes these tactics work, and other times they don’t.

Lesson Three: We all walk the hero’s journey.
The hero's journey is the same in theatre as it is in any literary work. Joseph Campbell coined the actually terminology for this model, but since the beginning of literary history, the same formula has been used. To make the long story short, the hero undergoes challenges, opposition, rejection, and through these experiences is transformed, where they are then accepted which ultimately leads to a personal victory and wide popularity.

Obviously, this is a bit different in real life, but some elements of the hero's journey are still true. Not knowing what we face each day, we take it one at a time. Although we we do not face challenges to the point of what we find in classic pieces of literature, they are in a way transforming to us. Specific life events in our experiences change us- graduating from college, getting married, having a child, etc. All of these have some effect on us.

Lesson Four: Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
You will always need to set some time aside where you can examine or work something till you have it perfected. I was always taught that you have to "hearse" before you rehearse. This lesson has been proved to me many times, and the most recently in the new role that I am in with a current production. I have had to sit myself down and run my lines. I've had to repeat these lines many times, not because I was trying to memorize them, but because I was trying to put the right "color" in them. Repetition also helps in memorizing something.
In acting, there is something known as the "Illusion of the first time." This basically means that when you are performing, you have to make your acting look like you are doing this the first time ever. Oddly enough, the only thing that can make you accomplish this, is doing the action over and over and over. Actor don't get good doing things once. They get good because they've done it time and time again.

Lesson Five: Find your beat(s).
Beats are subtle changes in a scene. They can be something small as a change of thought by a character in a monologue, or the change in direction or shift in "power" in a scene. These beats help actors to further find their objective, and also assist in the overall direction of the entire play. Every single scene is littered with beats, and they can be found grouped together, or scarcely found throughout any scene. Chances are though, if you're not finding a beat, you're not looking hard enough.

Lesson Six: React.
Acting is as much of reacting as it is interpretation. It was Sanford Meisner who really brought this idea to fruition in realistic acting. In every scene where there is more than one person (and often one person) you can only do so much with what you are given. You have to pay attention to the subtle actions and words- where the emphases is placed. It is this reaction that makes the scene engaging and draws the audience in closer to what is happening in the scene.

Lesson Seven: It takes a team.
The art of theatre is very much a well oiled machine. While actors are on the stage performing, the audience is (or should be) unaware of the controlled chaos that is happening around the theatre. Stage hands are running around making sure set pieces are in their proper place, helping actors get in and out of costumes. The stage manager is maintaining every detail of the show, calling light, sound and set cues. Actors are running about preparing for their next scene, and the orchestra, if you're watching musical is blowing through a barrage of notes.
Each and every single member of this production team holds an important role. While the actors are very much the ones who are seen the most, if one person backstage fails to do their task, the entire production suffers. Often times, during a production things can go wrong. Again, an entire company must rely on each other to ensure things are safely and effectively taken care of. That's why at the end of every curtain call, before the actors go off stage, they always point to the booth, the orchestra and acknowledge all those who are not even heard or seen. It's because of them, the production runs smoothly.

Putting it all together.
To sum it all up, acting imitates life. I'm pretty sure we are all walking our own journey. The story of our lives are about us, we're the heroes. As we walk the course of our lives, we are destined to face struggles- obstacles. As we overcome these challenges, we can see ourselves transform through the power of learning from our previous experiences. And as we move on from these struggles we begin to develop new goals (objectives) and set a course for accomplishing that goal. Sometimes, there may be a slight diversion, or even a complete change in what you are after (beat) where we have to abandon what we were after and completely change our ideas or goals about something (reacting). As we set this new course, or even change our goal, we find that there are people who surround us to help us on our way. Life is a journey that is not meant to be traveled alone. I firmly believe that we find people who are close to us to help us as we go on our way. They're friends, family, even complete strangers. Don't forget that you're never going through something where you can't get help.

So there it all is. Acting in a nutshell. Life in a nutshell.

Act well your part, for therein all the honor lies.